


True Nature Of A Royal

by girlf_riends



Series: The Royal series [1]
Category: Psychonauts
Genre: Some angst, mentions of abuse, royal universe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-10 10:27:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11689746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/girlf_riends/pseuds/girlf_riends
Summary: When Raz's safety is threatened at his home, he flees to Whispering Rock to hide from the monsters. However, a greater threat than the monsters lurk there, and its up to Raz to stop it before it destroys the world.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Angel note: This is my first part of the royal series, i will add more but they will be mostly original work. I will continue this into sequels once i finish writing this. also once i upload all 5 of the chapters i already have, dont expect fast uploads, it takes me a while to write these. Normal speaking will "be in these" and thinking will be in 'these'...i dont know how to do italics lol

In a woods in Oregon, a circus sat. Various caravans and tents were scattered throughout the camp. In one particular caravan, a young boy slept. He had tan skin and burgundy hair. He was clad in a simple blue tee-shirt and black shorts. The young boy awoke from his sleep, stretching, his bright green eyes surveying the area before getting up and changing into a red V-neck t-shirt and brown pants.

‘Hello, my name is Razputin Aquato, but most people call me raz’

He began to walk over to the window of the caravan and opened it.

‘You might be wondering why i’m up at the crack of dawn…well here’s the thing…i’m not entirely human’

A orange light engulfed Raz

'Im’

The light disappeared, and where Raz was standing was a dragon like creature. It had a beak like muzzle, light orange wings with yellow feathers thrown in, orange feathers covering its body, a long tail, golden claws, and a flaming mane that went from his forehead to his tail. His one eye was now orange while the other stayed light green. Slowly he began to unfold his wings as he crouched down on the ground.

'A royal’

In an instant, he sprang up, leaping out the window and began to fly away. Raz smiled as he flew, swerving between the trees. Eventually he flew upwards until he could see the entire forest, and even the town nearby. It was early, roughly 5:45, so he didn’t worry about anyone seeing him. Raz shifted back into a human and began to fall, still smiling. Once he was near the ground he shifted back into his royal form and continued to fly, a bit slower this time. He eventually stopped and landed in one the the trees, shifting once more into his human form, and began laughing, falling backwards into the brush below. He landed with a *thud* but continued to smile and laugh as he laid there enjoying the sounds of the woods.

'Now, you may have a lot of questions, like how can i turn into that creature, well that comes with being a royal. Ya see, ever since i was born, i was special. Not only was a born as a psychic, but as a royal as well. Now that doesn’t mean i’m a king or prince, it just means i’m more special then some realize, but with being special’

A gunshot echoed through the woods, startling Raz to sit up and look around before getting up and walking back to his camp.

'It also means i’m in a lot more danger then some would think, what you heard back there, wasn’t a normal hunter, that was a member of the monsters, who are the monsters you may ask…well, they are a anti-royal group. Now this isn’t cause of religion, or skin color, or anything like that, no one knows their motivations for going after royals’

Raz entered the camp, and climbed back into his caravan before falling back down on the bed, staring outside with a worried expression.

'Some think it’s cause we are different in more ways than one, some say it’s cause they see us as animals, others think it could be an ancient rivalry, dating back to the first royal anguis, but no one really knows’

“Razputin are you up yet” A voice on the other side if the door called out, before a tall, gruff man burst through the door. He was wearing a ripped up leotard, boots with one of them coming undone, and bandages around his hands. He had shaggy, burgundy hair and beard. He had dark purple eyes and, like raz, tan skin.

‘Thats my dad, Augustus. I…did not get the royal trait from him, im 99.9% sure i got the psychic trait from him…did i mention i was psychic as well’

“Yeah dad, i’m up” Raz mumbled as he pushed himself up and landed onto the floor.

“Good, now eat up and then i want you to help Jason and Jonathan out, they seem to have trouble with their juggling” Augustus said as he laid a plate with eggs and bacon onto the dresser next to Raz’s bed and left.

“Ok” Raz called out as he went over and grabbed the plate and began eating.

‘Jason and Jonathan are the twin clowns, they are frankly new, only been here for about a month or 2, and to be frank i don’t trust them’

Raz looked outside to see 2 men, both had shaggy brown hair, pale skin, and brown eyes. One was slightly fatter than the other while the other had a scar running from his forehead to his mouth.

‘Jason is the one with the scar and Jonathan is the pudgy one, you know if it weren’t for the fact they have threaten me more then the carnies that have been here for 5 years, i probably would trust them more’

 

Once he finished his plate, Raz walked outside and over to Jason and Jonathan.

“Hey guys, my dad said ya needed help or something”

Jason and Johnathan looked over to raz, jason looked at Raz with a scoul.

“Yeah, we cant reach the balls up there, can ya do it” Jonathan pointed to the box of juggling balls that were stacked at the very top of all the other boxes.

“Yeah sure” Raz climbed up the boxes, it wasn’t hard, when your an acrobat, climbing on an unstable surface is nothing new. Once he reached the top he grabbed the box and turned to the 2 men. “Here ya g-GAH” A dark blue hand pushed Raz off the stack of boxes, he luckily landed on his feet, but before he could say anything SMASH a beer bottled was smacked against Raz’s head, as he fell he heard various voices laughing and one, he was pretty sure it was Jason, saying something along the lines of “we almost killed him ya idiot”. That was the last thing he heard before he blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: swear words and possible acts of abuse in this chapter.

Raz woke up in his room, bandages tied around his head where the bottle had hit him. Slowly he sat up, looking around his room. The sun was almost completely down, indicating it was almost 8 or 9 or so.

“What happened….” He scratched his head, flinching when he hit his head wound. Suddenly the events prior that day came flooding back to Raz. “Those bastards..” 

At that moment Augustus walked in, bowl of soup in hand.

“Oh, good, you're awake,” Augustus said as he walked over to Raz, and set the bowl of soup down on Raz’s dresser.

“How...how long have I been out?” Raz asked.

“For about 15 hours or so.” Augustus said as he untied Raz’s bandages. “Jason and Jonathan brought you in, saying you fell off the boxes”.

‘Of course they did’.

“Oh.” Raz said as he grabbed the soup and began to drink it.

“When you done with that, get dressed, we have a show tonight, or did you forget as always?” Augustus said as he grabbed a orange and yellow leotard from raz’s drawer and laid it on Raz’s bed.

 

‘Really dad, gonna make me do a show when i'm injured?’ 

“No, I didn't forget.” Raz said as he set the now empty bowl down. “I’ll be out in a minute, dont worry.”

With that, Augustus left, leaving Raz alone to change into his leotard.  
~~~

Raz stood at the front of the tent, having a false smile on his face as he waved to everyone who passed him. Despite his injury, the show had gone without a hitch. It was a standard show so nothing too complex had happened. As he waved to everyone, he noticed a very shady man walking towards him. The man wall tall, maybe 6’2 or so. He was dressed in a black cloak, top hat, and what seemed to be some black fabric around his face, making it hard to recognize him, his only noticeable feature was the curly cue mustache. The man looked at raz with hollow eyes and extended his hand, handing a pamphlet to Raz before walking away.

“That was weird.” Raz said before turning his attention to the pamphlet “Huh... “Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp”... What's this all about?”  
However before he got the chance to read it, He could hear his father calling out for him. 

“RAZPUTIN, TIME TO LIFT WEIGHTS, HURRY UP!”

Raz folded up the pamphlet and stuck it in his shoes as he ran off to join his family.  
~~~

Weight lifting was a breeze for Raz, putting a 70 on his feet and began to lift the weights with his feet. Looking around, once, twice, just to make sure his family wasn't looking as he began to quickly take out the pamphlet and started to read it. He reread the thing over, and over, and over again, absorbing every detail, every word, everything, he was so lost in reading it he didn't notice his father had spotted him. 

“What do you got there, son?” Augustus said, his voice already lined in fatherly disapproval. 

Quickly Raz hid the pamphlet by shoving it in his leotard, hoping his father hadn't notice. “Nothing, dad.”

‘Oh god, please don't see it, please don't see it...’ 

It was too late for that however, as Augustus walked over to Raz, who dropped his weights and stood up. Augustus grabbed the back of Raz’s leotard and shook him slightly until the pamphlet fell out.

“Then what is this?”

“DON'T READ THAT!” Before Raz could grab the pamphlet, Augustus had grabbed it and began to read it, before looking at Raz with angry eyes.

“You know we have many enemies Raz, you KNOW what sort of people are out there,” He began to step towards Raz, causing Raz to back up slightly.“You KNOW what those kinds of people are capable of!” Raz tried to speak, saying how he knew, but his throat was dry as small tears began to prick. “Remember what happened with your mom, with Rosaline, with my grandfather?” Raz was pressed against his father’s caravan as he looked up to his father’s clearly pissed off face. “If you think, even for a minute, I will let you go to that camp, you're clearly delusional!” With that he ripped up the pamphlet before walking away to go tend the horses. Raz’s siblings looked at him, he had gone into his royal form, he was shaking with fear. Melody, Raz’s older sister, walked up towards him.

“It's ok Raz, dad is just a bit mad right now, we didn't rake in as much as we had hoped.” Melody spoke softly as she tried to console her brother, but Raz ran off and into his caravan. 

Once Raz entered his caravan, he collapsed on his bed and began to cry, curling up into a small ball. He felt betrayed and hurt, his father had to bring up Rosaline, didn't he? For a while, Raz pondered as to what to do. This had not been first time his father got mad at him for his powers, but it was certainly one of the worse.

Raz pushed himself up as his eyes fell on the bag by his door “That was the final straw, dad.” Raz hopped from his bed and walked over the bag and began to fill it up with spare clothes, a few tee-shirts, sweaters, pants, shorts, socks, undergarments, and of course his journal. Once it was filled, he changed into a green sweater, brown bomber jacket, and brown pants. He stuffed his boots into his bag as he put on his special goggles he got from his mom on his 1st birthday. Once he was sure he was all good, he wrote a letter to his father before turning towards the window and flew out.  
~~~  
On the other side of the circus sat Jason who was sharpening his knife before he spotted an orange glow shoot by. He looked up and smiled wickedly. “Try to run as you might, little royal...” He reached under a box and pulled out a horse mask and put it on “You can't escape us monsters.”


	3. Chapter 3

Raz flew quietly through the dark woods, trying to stay high within the tree tops, hoping to not be spotted by anyone who may still be in the woods. His eyes darted from side to side, trying to find a spot to land where he would still be hidden. Eventually he found a thick enough branch, high enough in the leaves that he could safely land on it without it snapping or it being too open. He landed on the branch, sighing as he went into his semi form, a mix between his human and royal form. For the most part he looked human, aside from the pair of golden wings on his back, the long orange tail with flames, and how his ears had small feathers growing out of them. Raz leaned back on the branch, allowing himself some time to get his bearings. Looking at the stars he concluded he was about 40 miles away from his home and was well more than 60 or 70 miles away from Whispering Rock. He let out another sigh as he once again took off into the sky.

Raz had only been flying for a few minutes before a sharp pain hit him in his left wing, causing him to fall to the group with a yelp. He looked around frantic before his eyes landed on who had shot him down. Standing a couple yards away from him was a tall person, presumably male due to the flat chest. The person wore all camo except for their face, which was hidden thanks to a wolf mask. ‘A monster,’ Raz thought, as his eyes locked onto the shotgun the person held, covered in rust and aimed right at him. With quick agility, Raz ran into the underbrush, going into his royal form as he did, leaping from side to side as he could hear gunshots blaring into the night sky. The sound of boots stomping the ground hit his ears as he realized he was being chased down. Another sudden pain hit Raz’s hind leg, causing him to trip and fall. He quickly got up as the sound of the person coming towards him grew louder. Raz tried to run, but could only do a quick limp as a result to his injured leg.

The sounds of cars hit Raz’s ears as he limped, filling him with a small thing of hope. Monsters, as desperate as they wish for his kind to be killed, were not stupid enough to shoot near other people. As quickly as he could, Raz shifted into his human form and made a break to the road. Another shot echoed as a pain hit Raz’s other leg, he was so close to the safety of the road, only a few more feet. Raz crawled, tears filling his eyes, he was so close to safety, he couldn't get caught now. With a few more pushes, he made it, out of the brush of the woods, and onto the soft grass by the road. He looked at the few cars and trucks that went by before standing up, nearly falling over due to his injured legs. He limped over to the side of the road and began to flag down cars, hoping someone would stop. Hope filled Raz as he saw a logging truck pull over to where he was. The passenger door opened and Raz hopped inside.

The seating part of the truck was small, but at the same time cozy. A soft smell of pine trees hit Raz’s nose as he put on his seatbelt.

“Thank you so much,”Raz said before turning to whoever had saved him. It was a middle aged man who had dark skin, darker hair, soft brown eyes, and a small, curly beard. He was clad in a red flannel with a white shirt underneath it and dark blue jeans.

“It was no problem, kid.” The man said as he started driving once more. “I can’t leave a fellow royal behind.” The moment he said this he pulled out from underneath his shirt the charm from a necklace he was wearing. The charm was a brown diamond with a dark emerald green leaf in the middle.

“How did you know I was a-”

“I could sense your aura from a mile away, literally.” The man looked over to Raz with a smile, before noticing his leg. “There are a some bandages if you need them in the glove box.” He said as he turned back to the road.

“Nah I’ll be fine, they’ll heal soon, but if it were near my head, then we’d have an issue,” Raz said as he rubbed his legs. One of them were already healed, while the other one was still healing. 

“So kid, where ya headin’ exactly?”

“Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp.” Raz said with a monotone voice, as he began to realize the weight of what he was doing. ‘If I run away, what will happen to Lizzy or Melody, or heck anyone from my family, how will dad react…. Dad.” a scowl came across Raz’s face ‘He would be happy I’m gone, finally having a purebred human family.’ “Step on it.” Raz said, determination and rage in his voice. The man nodded as he picked up speed and turned onto another road, passing a sign that read “Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp - 40 miles”.  
~~~

The 2 drove in silence, the only sounds being the truck and the cars that drove by. After 40 minutes or so, the man broke the silence “So kid, why are you headin’ to Whispering Rock? Why aren't you back home with your family?”

Raz looked up from his now healed leg and turned to the man. “I have no family, not anymore.” Anger and hatred lined Raz’s voice as he dug through his bag before pulling out a picture. The picture had 3 people in it, 2 of them were young, maybe 4 or 5, while one was 7 or so, the older in the middle of the 2. “I’m heading to Whispering Rock, my friend Gigi is staying there, so I figured I’d go too, since I’m psychic and all.” Raz lied, well, except for the psychic part. The man raised an eyebrow at Raz’s reason but shrugged, continuing down a beaten up pathway until he pulled up to a massive gate with the sign “Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp” above it.

“Well kid,” The man said as he parked the car, “Here’s your stop.”

Raz nodded and hopped out of the truck, stretching his arms and back from being in the car for 45 minutes straight, much longer than he was used to. The two said their goodbyes before the man drove off, leaving Raz alone outside the gate. He looked up at it. It was at least 15 feet tall, not including the sign. In mere seconds, Raz shifted into his royal form and flew over the gate and into a tree, wrapping his tail around its branches as he allowed the new sights and smells to wash over him. He could smell each animal that roamed around, each kind of tree and plant that grew, the scent of burgers, burnt and cold hit his nostrils when his head had turned to a massive building not too far away from him. He turned his head to the left, seeing a faint glow of a fire. ‘That must be where everyone is at,’ Raz thought as he took off into the air, once again landing in a tree, this one being right behind all the campers. Raz shifted into his semi form as he sat on the branch, listening to the various chatter and gossip. It didn't last long, as a short man in an army uniform walked onto the stage, which was just a big tree stump.

“The human mind. 1600 miles of synaptic fiber, 5 and a half ounces of cranial fluid, 1500 grams of complex nuromatter, a 3 pound pile of dreams.” The man said as he walked in front of a brain projected onto the back of the stump.  
“But I’ll tell you what it really is. It is the ultimate battlefield, and the ultimate weapon. The wars of this modern age, the psychic age, are all fought somewhere between these damp, curvaceous, adulations. From this day forward, you are all psychic soldiers, paranormal paratroopers, mental marines who are about to ship off on the adventure of their lives!” He took the small staff he was holding and gestured it to the projection brain “This is our beach head,” He then hit his hat with the staff “and THIS is your landing craft. You shall engage the enemy in his own mentality. You shall chase his dreams, you shall fight his demons, you shall live his nightmares. And those of you who fight well, you will find yourself on the path on becoming international secret agents. In other words….PSYCHONAUTS!”  
~~~

Raz stared in awe at the man’s words,was it true? Did he really have a chance to do something with his life? Was it possible for him to be able to work alongside these people, the psychonauts? “The rest of you...” Raz’s ears swiveled over back to the man’s voice as he began talking again. “Will DIE.” Raz wasn’t in as much shock as everyone else was at the man’s words. ‘I will die? Please, I knew that the moment I was born.’ He thought.  
~~~

The kids were all silent at the coach's words, however the silence didn't last long as one camper, a small bluish colored boy wearing a tinfoil hat began to cry, causing the other kids to flinch back.

From the stage, a pale green german man and a brazilian woman walked to the end of the stage. “Ugh. Morry.” The german man said in a monotone voice.   
“Children, you're not going to die.” The brazilian woman said in a sweet voice, her accent very heavy compared to the man.   
“Well, if you’re not a psychonaut, then you might as well be dead.” The short man said with a harsh tone.

 

“They told me this was a summer camp...” The kid from earlier continued to cry. Behind him two kids, one with a orange afro and one with huge ears looked at each other with menacing faces, the afro one jerking his thumb over to the crying kid.

“Oh, Dogen.” The red headed girl next to him said. “Don't worry about old coach Oleander. I’ve been coming here for years and trust me, nothing ever happens.”

“Yeah Dogen, Lili’s right you got nothing to worry about!” The afro kid said, his teeth to big, hanging past his lips as he speaked “Except for that giant monster in the lake I was telling you about...” He leaned towards Dogen, who was shaking from fear.

“BOBBY ZILCH, I TOLD YOU TO STOP SCARING PEOPLE WITH THAT RIDICULOUS OLD LEGEND!” Oleander said yelling towards the afro boy. “I don't want the kids to be afraid to go out at night and walk the perfectly safe paths of Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp. And we don't want to scare our special guest, superstar psychonauts Sasha Nein,” He gestured to the pale green german man “And Milla Vodello!” Oleander said, gesturing to the brazilian woman.  
~~~

“Sasha Nein and Milla Vodello...” Raz whispered to himself as he watched the scene play out. He had heard about those two, not much, but he had an idea of who they were. He remembered Gigi talking about them once on his birthday, about how they were heroes of the mind. He never really understood the whole thing, only ever learning bits and parts about them from the True Psychic Tale magazines he would get after the performances, there was usually one or two of them in the bleachers that some kid had dropped.

Crack.

Raz’s eyes widen as he looked down at the branch, small cracks on it.

Crack.

He swallowed as he looked down at it, muttering an “oh no”.

SNAP.

With a yelp of surprise, Raz fell, going into his human form as the branch gave away. He landed on the ground with a thud before feeling a strange force pull him closer to the campers. Desperately, Raz dug his fingers into the earth, trying to escape, but it was no use and let go, allowing himself to be taken away.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANGELNOTE: mentions of abuse are in this chapter, you've been warned

“BOBBY ZILCH, I TOLD YOU TO STOP SCARING PEOPLE WITH THAT RIDICULOUS OLD LEGEND!” Oleander yelled at Bobby. “I don't want the kids to be afraid to go out at night and walk the perfectly safe paths of Whispering Rock Psychic Summer Camp! And we don't want to scare our special guests, super stars Sasha Nein, and Milla Vodello.” He gestured to both of them before the sound of a branch snapping and something decent sized hit the forest floor.

“LAKE MONSTER!” Dogen screamed, causing a mass panic among the campers.

“Formations,” Sasha said as he, Milla, and Oleander all got into their stances and began to drag whatever had hit the floor.

“Its...resisting?” Milla said as she tried to pull harder on whatever had hit the ground. Finally, after all 3 of them pulled at the exact time, a figure emerged from the bushes. “Quick bring it over here!” She said quickly, not wanting to drop it and lose whatever they had caught.

Sasha looked up at the thing they caught, very clearly it was a child, but something was...off, around the child he could see what looked like psychic energy in the form of a dragon. “What...is it?” He asked, more curious about the strange dragon-like form around the kid.

“It's just a little boy..” Milla said calmly, Sasha glanced over at her for a moment, sneaking in a clairvoyance. In Milla’s eyes, the kid was normal. He quickly hopped out of her mind before she could notice it. “What's your name, darling?” Milla asked, unaware of what Sasha had just done.

Oleander squinted at the child and smirked. “I’ll find out,” He said as he tried to force his way into the kid's brain. “Can’t…..get…….in…..ugh” Oleander stopped trying, letting go of the boy, causing the others to let go too.

The boy flipped as he descended to the floor, landing on his feet without any issue.

“My name...”

“Starts with a D!”

“Is Razputin.” Raz said, crossing his arms, just so he’d look cool. “But everybody calls me...Raz.”

In the distance, Dogen cried out. “DON'T KILL US, LAKE MONSTER!” Raz dropped his smirk at that, feeling kinda bad for scaring the kid. 

“Compelling.” Sasha said, still seeing the dragon shape energy surrounding Raz.

“Armored like a tank.” Oleander said, a hint of proudness in his voice.

“Sorry I’m late,” Raz said, turning to the coach, “I don't want to disrupt your briefing, agent Oleander,” He turned to the 2 other agents. “Agents Nein, Vodello, please continue.” Raz hopped down from the stage and made his way to the other campers.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Oleander snapped at Raz.

“You’ve broken into a highly classified, remote government training facility.” Sasha said.

A massive smile broke onto Raz’s face. “I know, isn’t it great?” At that point he realized that maybe this wasn't something to brag about. “Listen, why don't I sit over here quietly with my fellow psi cadets?” Raz made his way over and sat down on a bench between two others. “Hey how’s it going, i like your hat” He whispered, turning to the two kids, one of which was Dogen.

Sasha scowled, though barely noticeable. “We need to have this young man taken from the area immediately.”

“I’ll call his parents.” Milla chimed in.

“What?!” Panic hit Raz harder than a bullet. ‘Call my parents?! But what if dad finds out?’ “But- don’t you train Psychonauts here?”

“Yes darling, but,”

“To soar across the astral plane, to wage psychic warfare against the enemies of free thought?”

Oleander scratched the back of his neck. “...That IS what I wrote on the front of the pamphlet.”

‘I have them hooked.’

“Those words are why I'm here, Coach Oleander. Do you remember what you wrote inside of that pamphlet?” Oleander looked agasp at what he was saying. ‘Hook, line, and sinker.’

“You were born with a special gift, but the people around you treat it like a curse.”

Raz felt as if the pamphlet was also talking about royals.

“Your mother is afraid of you, and your father looks at you, with shame in his eyes.” Raz paused, feeling as if he was going to choke from how too real the words were. “Come to Whispering Rock Psychic Summer camp, and you can show them all!” He spoke proudly “Back home your powers make you a loner, an outcast, a circus freak. But in this dojo, in this psychic dojo, they make you...a hero.”

Oleander has a small tear forming in this real eye “Get that soldier a bunk.” He choked out, pointing to Raz.

\---

As the campers ran to their respected cabins, Milla and Raz talked by the boy’s cabin.

“Now darling,” Milla spoke softly to Raz.”You can stay here for a few days until your parents come for you, but we can't let you participate in any paranormal training without your parents consent.” when she noticed the crushed face on raz she got up to walk away, quietly whispering back an apology.

Raz felt as if his world was being crumbled before him, if his father came for him, what would happen? As he watched her walk away, he realized this could be his only shot for safety.

“Wait! Agent Vodello!” Raz ran up to her before she had reached the other adults who were waiting for her.

Milla turned around to face Raz “Yes darling, whats wrong?”

“Can i please talk to you, in private?” He asked

She looked at him, then back at Sasha and Oleander who merely nodded “Umm, sure” She followed raz to behind the cabins, and deep into the woods, so they were out of ears and minds reach. “What exactly did you need darling?”

Raz swallowed, this was his only shot “Mi-Milla, i...i cant go home.” Raz began to shake, causing Milla to kneel down and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Darling, what do you mean?”

“M-My dad, he, he hates psychics and,” raz paused trying to get his breathing under control “And the others at the circus, they hate me too, especially these 2 clowns who hit me upside the head the earlier today” Raz was finally able to breath properly now, though he was still shaken up as the events from earlier that day ran on rewind in his mind “If you called him here, and he came back, who knows what he’ll do to me, or what he’ll let the others do” Raz looked at milla with pleading eyes “Please don't call him”

Milla was listening closely to what raz was saying ‘This poor child, hurt and abused by his family’ she nodded and looked at him with a kind but determined expression “I won't call your parents, don't worry, you’ll be fine.” She pulled raz into a hug as Raz gave her a death grip, as if this was the first feeling of motherly love he had feel in a long time. After a solid minute or so, she got up, making Raz let go. “Alright sweetie, let's head back to the cabins.”

Back at the cabins, Raz said goodnight to Milla and went into the cabin, seeing only one bunk available, the one over dogen. He hopped in it without hesitation and began to drift to sleep.

\---

“But he has mental defensives like i have never seen in someone so young, if i could just get him in my lab for some experiments, i'm sure he could withstand more than the others.” Sasha said to Oleander as Milla returned.

“That kid’s one in a million nein, but i'm not gonna let you turn him into one of your guinea pigs!” Oleander looked at Raz’s cabin “I have big plans for that mind.”


	5. Chapter 5

Raz's eye's fluttered open, revealing a field, but not an ordinary field. It was purple, with a stream that glowed blue. Trees with leaves decorated with stars and star dust were scattered throughout the area. The sky was black, with stars glowing brightly within it. The grass was soft, little pieces of stars scattered in them, and yet it didn't hurt. It was clear where he was.

 

"...Heavena's land."

He noticed how he was in his royal form, and how his body had a soft orange glow to it as he walked through the starry field. It wasn't long before he came across the guardian of the land and the first royal herself.

Heavana.

The royal in question was looking into a pond. She had a serpent like body that was covered in light blue feathers, feathered ears, silver ram horns, white hair on her tail, and 2 sets of wings. The pair where her legs would've been were folded up while the pair where her arms should have been were propping her up as she gazed down into the pool.

"Hello, Flacari." Heavena spoke softly, as she turned to face Raz. "Please join me."

Raz nodded and walked next to Heavena before sitting down just by the edge of the pool. "What did you need, Heavena?" Raz asked.

"I've called you here so I can warn you." Heavena said.

"W-warn me? Warn me about what?" Raz said, a bit nervous now.

"The place you are staying at, Whispering Rocks, was it?" Heavena asked

"Uh, Whispering ROCK, actually." Raz said, at first proud until he noticed the small glare from Heavena. It wasn't a mean glare to say, but more of the"respect your elders" glare.

"It's not safe. There is a threat there, a threat so powerful that the monsters themselves fear it."

That scared Raz. "I'll just leave tonight th-"

"No." Heavena interrupted.

Raz looked confused, "No?" He cocked his head to the side.

"If you leave tonight, the threat will win, and if it wins, everyone, royal or not, will surely suffer." Heavena spoke with the same soft voice, although there was a small amount of intensity lining it.

"Can you at least tell me who this threat is?" Raz asked, now scared.

"I'm sorry, but I can't. the psitanium there is effecting my powers, it's making the pictures fuzzy... I'm not a psychic, after all." Heavena turned back to the pool, watching the stars form pictures of men being chased by machines.

Raz watched the scene in the pool unfold, men, women, children, all being killed by machines. "I won't let that happen." Raz said as he turned tail, and began to ran back to where he came.

"Good luck Flacari, may you have the strength of my sons!" Heavena called out.

Just before Raz ran out the clearing, he stopped and turned to Heavena. "Hey...Heavena?"

"Yes, Flacari?"

Raz swallowed "H-how's mom?"

Heavena paused, and smiled softly. "She's fine."

"A-and Rosaline?"

Heavena frowned, her ears pressed against her head as she looked away "I...haven't seen her"

"Have you made contact with her?" Raz prayed for a yes, instead he got...

"I...haven't been able to contact her in years... I'm sorry."

Raz nodded in understanding and ran out of the clearing.

Sunlight poured through the cracks of the cabin, the birds sung their morning tune as Raz awoke. He was alone, but judging by the voices outside, he wasn't late to Basic Braining. With speed, Raz got out of bed and headed outside.

"Hey, Raz! Hurry up! You don't want to be late for Basic Braining!" A small boy with navy blue hair and was dressed as a sailor said as he passed Raz, along with 3 other children. A short boy with dark brown hair and an olive colored cap, a female who was also short but slightly taller than the other that had red hair tied nicely in a ponytail, and a taller male with buck teeth, all 3 sporting Whispering Rock tee-shirts.

"Woo-Hooo! Basic braining is the best class ever! Woo-hooo-hoooooooo!" the taller male cheered as he ran ahead of the group. Raz shook his head slightly, a sigh escaping him. He wish he could be that free spirited, but he couldn't, especially with a threat greater than the monsters looming above his head.

'I need to find clues, or something,' Raz thought as he began to look around. He turned his head to the left and saw a kid surrounded by 3 squirrels, and curious, he approached the kid. "Hey," He called out as he approached, looking at the 3 squirrels, "Squirrel trouble?"

"They're liars, is all..." the kid said, glaring at the squirrels "Whatever they tell you? It's a lie."

"I'll take your word for it." Raz looked around for a bit. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Dogen."

"I see, my name is Raz." Raz said, the name Dogen didn't stick out too much, and the kid looked non-threatening enough for him to trust. "You going to class?"

"Yeah, I'll meet you up there," Dogen nodded before turning back to the squirrels. "As soon as I get these guys to shut up." He glared at the squirrels, again.

Deciding all was dover over by Dogen, Raz turned and began to walk to find any clues to the vision Heavena had seen. However as he was walking, he heard what sounded like a small explosion. Immediately he whipped around, just to see Dogen standing there, innocently, without the squirrels near him. Raz looked around, squinting his eyes, but found nothing. Shrugging he walked away, he, unfortunately, did not notice the pieces of squirrel falling by Dogen once he was gone.

Raz looked around for a bit before spotting a cave. He immediately headed towards it and began to scale the hill it was on, his fingers digging deep into the earth. It was moments like this he was glad for being part earth royal, it certainly made scaling the hill easier. Once he reached the top, he headed down into the cave. It was damp and wet with mud, which made it hard to stay balanced as he got to a slope, and eventually fell, sliding down to the bottom of the cave, where he saw….

"A fridge?" Raz asked himself, as he looked at the object in front of him. Yup, that was a fridge alright. Curious, Raz opened it, revealing a turkey sub frozen in a block of ice. "It's completely frozen..." Raz remarked to himself before deciding there was nothing else to do in that area of the cave.

After a bit of exploring he found the exit, which also opened a hatch on a well. Raz looked around a bit before spotting a cowboy kid and a kid with a green afro that actually looked nicely kept, talking to each other about something. Curious, he approached them until he got in earshots range of hearing.

"So...you're dating Elka now." The kid with the afro said. "Does this mean we won't hang out as much?"

"Shoot!" The cowboy kid looked taken aback by the other's statement. "I reckon things ain't gonna change one bit. Doggone it, partner, no woman's never gonn-" Before he could finish his statement, a blond, probably very rich, girl walked up to the 2, bumping, probably purposefully, into Raz.

"HEY! You're gonna make my boyfriend late for class." The girl, Elka he could presume, yelled at the afro kid. "Come on James!" She said, bumping into the afro kid as she turned to the cowboy kid, James Raz assumed. "Come. ON." She repeated, and with that the 3 left.

Raz felt bad for "James", but pushed that aside to keep looking around.

After 10 more minutes of investigating the kids cabin area, Raz began to make his way up to where Basic Braining was. In his 10 minutes, all he found was a peeping tom, two kids who couldn't decide on a band name (and gave him some scary advice about the coach), and a russian kid who really wanted to find a giant hairless bear. Aside from what the two band kids said about the coach, he had no evidence for what this great threat was, and even then the "advice" seemed more like a rumor then anything, the way they had kept changing the story. As he reached the top of the tree house, he saw a kid with maroon curly hair leave.

'Odd…' Raz thought as he approached the kid. "Hey, kid, where you going?" He made a small mental note to learn everyone's name once Basic Braining was done.

The kid hushed Raz. "I snuck out," He whispered. "That class is a death trap for crazy people!" The kid looked around a bit before turning back to Raz "Listen, the coach is strong-" That word in particular stuck out in Raz's head.

'Strong….what does he mean by that?' Raz had been so focused on the word he didn't realize the kid was still talking.

"But once you're in, you can use these smelling salts to sneak out," The kid handed Raz two oval shaped...things. He could only guess they were the smelling salts. "Take mine. I don't need them anymore. I'm calling my parents to come get me, before i get hurt"

"TOO LATE!" Came a scratchy, grating voice behind the two.

The kid turned to the voice, shaking. "B-BOBBY!" The kid screamed at the new kid. His orange afro was all over the place and he was pale as all hell. Next to Bobby was a kid with a darker skin tone and really, REALLY big ears.

"Hey kid. You owe me five arrowheadth for this week'th pwotection thervice!" Bobby had a very obvious lisp.

"Cough it up, Ma-loser, or you'll be coughing up bloody tears!" Bobby's friend sneered.

A feeling of protection filled Raz, if there was one thing he hated more then the monsters, it was bullies, but could you blame him? He was a no-horn, was born as one, and probably would always be one. No horns were the equivalent of omega's in wolf packs, many saw them as weak and often mocked or even attacked them just for their lack of horns. "Hey, leave him alone!" a small growl escaped Raz.

Bobby turned to Raz and narrowed his eyes. "I heard a rumor that you were raithed in the circus." Bobby said, as he approached Raz. "Well, let me put thith in termth you'll understand." Bobby pointed to himself. "I'M the thtrong man around here."

Raz rolled his eyes. "Really? Cause you look more like the cotton candy." Raz couldn't help but smirk, especially at the gasp Bobby let out.

"Benny!" Bobby turned to the kid next to him, who Raz easily could guess was Benny. "Put thith kid'th death on my to-do litht."

Benny glared and walked ahead. "Come on, we'll see him in class." He said as he pushed Raz and the other kid out of the way, so he and Bobby could get to class.

"Yeah, we'll thettle thith on the battlefield!" Bobby punched into his hand, and walked past the two.

Once the two were inside, the previous kid turned to Raz. "Thank you so much, uhh, Raz, was it?" Raz nodded. "Thought so. Anyway, I'm Maloof, if there's anyway I can repay you for standing up to Bobby and Benny, let me know." And with that, Maloof had his leave.

Raz watched Maloof leave, making another mental note to ask him about any info on the counselors and the campers, but first, Basic Braining. He headed in, noting how everyone was in a trance, and headed towards the coach.

"Uhh, Coach Oleander?" Raz approached a bit with caution before standing a bit upright. "I'm reporting for Basic Braining."

"Son, do you realize that to take my course, I will have to pull you into my mind? And you will have to relive every bullet scarred memory of every battle I have ever faced." Oleander was sitting in a criss cross positioned, and had his eyes closed. "It won't be pretty." Oleander's nose twitched a bit when a fly had landed on it, before it flew away. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather... run around a bit more in the sunshine first?" There was actual genuine care in his voice.

Raz shook his head no. "I'm ready, sir."

Well then…" Oleander opened his eyes. "You're late, soldier!" His voice now stern. "Now get in here and give me twenty!" He tapped the little door on his head. Suddenly the world around Raz became engulfed with a white light as he felt something leave his body. His last memory before the world was completely white was a sudden pain of royal magic before it subsided.


End file.
